November 26th, 2008
Holiday Gift Guide 2008: GPS personal navigation devices
As a person who travels for work quite often and as a father to daughters who play sports all over the place, a GPS navigation device is an essential piece of equipment for me. Most of my mobile phones have GPS receivers and they work well in a pinch, but it is a much better experience to have a large screen dedicated navigation device and these are quite popular today with prices that are very reasonable. There are also high end devices packed with features and I’ll present the latest high end and lower end devices from the major GPS manufacturers in this guide.
There is one new device that actually has a constant internet connectivity (Dash was another that recently left the hardware business) so you can get real-time traffic updates, map and data updates sent wirelessly, and the latest and greatest search data via the internet. One of the best features of this connected device is the ability to send destinations to the device via a web interface from your home or office.
Other GPS devices use the MSN Direct network to send data (movie times, gas prices) one way to your device. Then there are others that focus just on navigation and mapping functions, which are the core functions in these GPS personal navigation devices. Some cars have them integrated, but for the rest of us we can now buy one priced from US$100 to US$300 and be completely satisfied with the experience. Let’s take a look at a few of the best devices on the market today.
I posted a review of the TeleNav Shotgun and continue to use it as my primary navigation device. The name may sound a bit strange at first, but it sure brings back the days of my teenage youth when we had defined and strict rules for claiming the “shotgun” position in the car. The TeleNav Shotgun brings the well-known TeleNav software (found on mobile phones from US carriers with different branding, such as Sprint Navigation or AT&T Navigator) to a dedicated device.
The hardware is fairly well designed with a soft touch rubberized body, large 4.3 inch 480×272 pixel touch screen display, and microSD card slot. A SIM card is inserted and included for wireless connectivity. The device focuses on navigation and points of interest (POI) with over 11 million loaded on the device. Real-time traffic updates are downloaded from the internet and provided to you on the device as part of the subscription service (fees range from US$9.96 to US$11.99 per month, depending on length of your contract). All the other GPS devices provide traffic and info via FM in a one-way form of communication while the TeleNav Shotgun provides two way communications for live searches and even more to come.
I personally find the capability to send destination addresses to the device through a web browser at my home or office to be an invaluable wireless feature. I can send a month’s worth of soccer field locations to the device and never have to worry about printing up maps or getting lost. The gas price feature is also quite handy to use for finding the lowest price around you when you need it or finding where the closest diesel station may be found.
If you purchase the TeleNav Shotgun on Monday, 1 December you can also get six months of service for free as part of their Cyber Monday deal.
Price: $299.99 with three free months of service
[Read my first impressions article][Check out my image gallery][Read the review]
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Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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